You’ve done all kinds of one-one-one interviews and customer surveys. You’re swimming in customer intel – so now what? It’s a valid question – and, all too often, a stop sign. But push onward – that information is going to help you create the most fundamental components of your marketing strategy. It just takes a little focus to sift through everything you have and put a frame around the best parts.
Elevator Speech
An elevator speech is like a really good French bread. It’s simple as can be, yet tricky as heck to get right. You’d think a statement about what your company does would be pretty straightforward. But it’s not – which is why these so often get mangled into taglines or lengthy paragraphs or corporate buzzwords. And none of that is what you want.
What you want is a simple sentence or two (or three) that communicates exactly what your company does – and why that’s so important. What you don’t want is to sound like a salesperson. Or a corporate shill.
Ideally, you want to talk about the problem the same way your customer thinks about it. Which is where all that intel comes in handy. Go back over it and look for how your customer talks about the problem. What do they feel is important about it? What do they want help with?
When you find that, the odds are good you’ll have your elevator speech.
Talking Points
Talking points are absolutely critical to keeping a growing team on track. It helps make sure that, no matter everybody’s personal style, they all hit the highlights. While they are helpful for sales teams, they are absolutely crucial for C-suite and board members who talk to the press.
Talking points start with your elevator speech – and then build on it. Head back to all that customer research and find all the issues they raised. What did they struggle with? What have you been especially helpful with? What concerns did they need you to alleviate? Those are the items that become your talking points.
When structured right, your talking points will tell a story – and make it very easy to understand what sets your company apart.
Web Pages
Your talking points act as the building blocks of your website. If you only require a simple site, your talking points could be the homepage. If you need a more complicated site – say, you have more products or serve multiple specialties – they could serve as the building blocks of your key pages.
Message Consistency and Strength
Your customer research is intended to help you create compelling messaging. Use it as the basis of your elevator speech, talking points, and web pages, and it will help you create a strong, consistent brand voice.
Photo by Jessica Ruscello on Unsplash.